Three Little Monkeys

Big Announcement

2011-07-14T18:24:00.001-05:00

We created a new blog a LONG time ago. Make sure you head over to our new blog to hear about our BIG Announcement.

http://brandonandnatalie.blogspot.com

New Blog Address

2009-11-20T16:40:00.003-06:00

The time has come. I have filled up all my memory space on this blog in regards to pictures. In my opinion, pictures are what make a great blog post. Plus, I think the grandparents would be sad if new posts didn't include pictures of some of their favorite people in the world. Our new blog address is brandonandnatalie.blogspot.com. Make sure to update our new address on your links and blog rolls.

You've Had a Birthday

2009-11-15T10:13:00.014-06:00

Hryum recently celebrated his fifth birthday! I can't believe he is five. He had been eagerly anticipating his birthday.

To start the day off, he request Mickey Mouse pancakes (the same thing he wanted last year). Brandon had already left for school, so the task fell to me. He enjoyed them. After he finished the Mickey Mouse pancake I wrote the number five on another pancake for him to eat.After breakfast it was time for Hyrum to go to school. He couldn't wait to share his cool cupcakes he picked out for his birthday. He picked Nemo, Football and Curious George cupcakes to share with his friends.

Originally, I had plan to take the kids to McDonalds on Hyrum's birthday for lunch. However, Ben and Emmy were sick so we decided to pick-up the food through the drive-thru and have a picnic at home. For the most part, Hyrum still takes naps. However, on his birthday he got to stay up instead of going to bed. After Ben and Emmy went to bed I took Hyrum outside to do a little photo shoot. I think I got a couple of cute shots that capture Hyrum's fun personality.After we were finished taking pictures, I told Hyrum to pick whatever games he wanted to play with mom. One of the games he picked was the Lighting McQueen Memory Game. If I remember correctly, we read some books too.When Brandon came home from school that day we planed on going to Chuck E. Cheese for Hyrum's birthday. However, since Ben and Emmy were sick, Brandon took Hyrum to the store to pick a frozen pizza out.

When the boys got home and while the pizza was cooking Hyrum opened his presents. Hyrum received a cute card from Grandma-Great with some money to go along with the fun present she sent with my parents for him back in October.Hyrum received a fun card from Grandma and Grandpa T. with a gift card to Target.Aunt Lorri and family gave each child a card for their birthday with a gift card to Target.Hyrum received a cool superman shirt from Grandma and Papa Van. They also gave him books and a backpack which he received when they were visiting us in October.

Earlier in the day I took Ben and Emmy to the dollar store to pick out a present they wanted to give Hyrum. It was so cute to watch them pick out what they think their beloved Hyrum would like. Ben and Emmy love Hyrum so much and they were so excited that it was his birthday. Ben picked out some race cars to give to Hyrum.Emmy picked out some army guys to give to Hyrum.Emmy gave Hyrum many hugs during the day telling him Happy Birthday. It was so cute. Brandon and I gave Hyrum a cool sea puzzle and the Bumblebee Transformer. For whatever reason he loves Transformers. He always points the Transformers out when we pass by them in the store. He was so excited when Brandon figured out how the Transformer worked. He has loved the Transformer.We had pizza and rented the movie UP to watch as a family. We stopped the movie after a little while to sing Happy Birthday to Hyrum and have him blow out his candles. Happy Birthday handsome Hyrum! I hope you had a great birthday!

Just because...

2009-11-14T20:52:00.005-06:00

One thing that I love about my husband is that he brings me home flowers just because he loves me. Valentines and our anniversary are not the only days I receive flowers during the year (it helps that there is a CHEAP flower shop by his school). The flowers remind me of when we were dating. I feel giddy when he brings me home flowers. The flowers remind me of our love for each other. I have come to realize that for him, when he gives me flowers it is a way in which he shows that he loves me. I have a wonderful, thoughtful husband who I am so grateful he picked me to be his wife.

Another reason why I love this man. He picked a flower for Emmy out of my bouquet. Brandon makes a big deal anytime he gives her a flower. Emmy loves it! I am pretty positive Brandon does too. When I get flowers she gets a flower.

We are both very lucky to have such a great man in our life!

Five Little Pumpkins

2009-11-11T14:37:00.005-06:00

The kids loved Halloween music this year. Every time we were in the car they would request the spooky music their grandma gave them (Wee Sing Halloween).

One of my favorite things from the month October was listening to them do their own version of Five Little Pumpkins. They all do a little bit different version of the song. I am sure it doesn't help that Ms. Tami taught Hyrum who taught the twins a different version of the song than the one I sang to them at home. Here are my cute little monkeys singing one of their favorite Halloween songs.

Jungle Safari

2009-11-09T16:12:00.015-06:00

On October 17th we had a birthday party for Ben and Emmy. We had a jungle party. I can't take the credit for the idea, my sister-in-law did a jungle party for my niece. I thought it would be the perfect theme for Ben and Emmy's party since the theme is gender neutral.

For the party we had to special guests! We did the birthday party on the Saturday my parents were in-town visting us.
Before the party I took some fun pictures of the birthday buddies. You can find the other pictures here. Of course, I had to take pictures of Hyrum too! My mom bought the kids pins for their shirts that said it was their birthday. They loved them. Ben's pin said, "Its My Birthday." Emmy's pin said "Kiss Me Its My Birthday."The kids were really excited for their friends to come to their party. When the guests first walked through the door they got to pick out an animal hat to wear. Most of the hats for the kids to pick had jungle animals on them. As luck would have it, Emmy picked the duck hat. Emmy loves ducks. Ben picked an alligator hat.

After the hat was chosen, each child decorated their goody bag. As you can tell in the picture below, Emmy likes stickers.When the bags were decorated, the kids were separated into two groups, boys and girls. The boys started off at the monkey toss. Brandon drew a monkey on a cardboard box and cut out the face. The kids were given a little monkey to use as a bean bag. The object of the game was for the kids to throw the monkey through the hole.The girls started at the "Pin the Nose on the Lion"After everyone had a turn, we rotated the groups. The girls went to the "Monkey Toss" and the boys went to the "Pin the Nose on the Lion"When the games were finished, we had a small lunch for the kids of cheese, apples and other tasty healthy treats. While Brandon, my mom and I were getting the food ready my dad had the kids make different animal sounds. The kids loved it!Back Row L to R Tucker, Elle, Emmy, Maggie, Noah, Lexi, Austin
Front Row L to R Ben, Lincoln, Hyrum, Lainey, Ben and Corban
Hyrum and Ben M.Emmy and Lexi
Corban, Lexi and Emmy

Next, came the Jungle Safari. Before the party Brandon hid various animals in the backyard. The kids were sent out to find all the animals in the yard. Ben and Emmy loved it!
After the Safari, Ben and Emmy opened their presents. All their friends gave them such great gifts. They have really enjoyed them all!
After the presents were opened we played a game called "Hippo in the Mud." I made mud puddles out of paper grocery sacks for the game and laid them in a circle. When we played music, the kids would walk around the circle and when the music stopped the kids would hop on a puddle.

Brandon made an awesome turtle cupcake cake for the party. I think he did a fabulous job! He is officially our cake decorator for birthdays now.
Brandon put three yellow candles and three pink candles on the cake. Ben's favorite color is yellow and Emmy's favorite color is pink. However, when he put the turtle down for the kids to blow out the candles the kids were in the wrong spots. Emmy blew out the yellow candles and Ben blew out the pink ones. Oh, well! Ben and Emmy were too excited to have everyone sing Happy Birthday and to blow out the candles to notice. The party finished with eating the turtle cake. Overall, I thought the party went really well and all the kids seemed to have a great time. I know Emmy and Ben were quite pleased to have their friends over to celebrate their birthday.

Happy Halloween-2009

2009-11-08T14:04:00.012-06:00

The Thursday before Halloween Hyrum had a preschool Halloween party. I am sort of the room mother this year for his class. As a result, I was worried about having everything ready for the party and left my camera at home. I didn't get any pictures of Hyrum doing the fun activities the other moms planned (the moms were very creative). Hyrum had a fabulous time at the party. I think he was pleased I came to his school. Right when we were leaving the party I remembered that my phone takes some decent pictures. The picture below is of Hyrum and his beloved Ms. Tami.On Halloween night, we were invited to a fun Halloween party at Ms. Tami's house. Shortly after we got to her house I realized that I was missing the memory card to the camera. At first we were taking pictures with our cell phones, but soon realized that the quality of the pictures were not as high as I would have liked. Being the good husband that he is, Brandon drove the 20 minutes home and the 20 minutes back to get the memory card.

The Halloween party started off with some fun games for the kids to play. I know that my kids enjoyed playing games; they had a great time.After the games, the kids did a costume parade around the cove. It was so cute to see the kids marching in their costumes.
Top LtoR Emma, Hyrum, Kelsie, Hailey, Lexi, Tucker, Chloe, Boo, Maggie
Bottom LtoR Eli, Emmy, Noah, Wes, Ben Savannah and ?

Since the people who provide a hayride for kids weren't ready to start giving rides we went back to Ms. Tami's. We had a wonderful dinner of soup and bread sticks. It was so yummy!Brandon dressed up as the friendly neighborhood milkman and I was pregnant. Brandon went Halloween morning to Goodwill to find the pants, hat, and the milk bottles. I had to add my throw-up bucket to my costume because it made my costume more realistic.

Below is a picture of our friends Emily and Brandon.I was so bummed I didn't get pictures of the other couples. There were some great Halloween costumes. Our friends Nick and Whitney dressed up as a leprechaun and a pot of gold.

After dinner the kids went on a hayride. There is this nice family who every year give hayrides around the neighborhood to the kids. The kids loved it! I told Hyrum to hang on to Ben. As a result, he put his arm around Ben and held onto him during the ride. Emmy got to ride with daddy. Someone else volunteered to hold her, but she thought the costume of that person was too scary.When the fun hayride was finished we went trick-or-treating. The kids loved trick-or-treating. Our big group of friends split into two groups after a little while. The older kids who went trick-or-treating quickly and the younger kids who enjoyed the slower pace. I went trick-or-treating with Hyrum and Brandon stayed with Ben and Emmy. Hyrum loved trick-or-treating with his friends.When people would open the door Hyrum would say trick-or-treat and thank you in one breath. He seemed content to hold my hand for awhile and walk from house to house.Hyrum especially had a fun time trick-or-treating with his friend Hailey. For some of the time we were trick-or-treating they would hold hands and walk together. It was too cute.Ben and Emmy loved going trick-or-treating. They were nervous at the houses with "scary" decorations. One house was too spooky for Ben, he wouldn't even go to the door. Emmy wasn't a big fan of the houses with dogs right next to the door when she went to get her nummies. Ben and Emmy did both enjoy the "nice" houses as the called them.Emmy cracks me up, yes her costume came with heels and she wore those suckers all night long. She knows beauty is pain!

After trick-or-treating, we went back to Ms. Tami's. The kids watched a movie and enjoyed some candy while the adults played the card game Spoons!

We had such a great time that night. The kids have been so much fun this Halloween season. The loved and insisted we listened to the Halloween music when we were in the car every day (I was mean and didn't let them listen to it on Sundays). The kids enjoyed reading all the Halloween books, looking at Halloween decorations on peoples' houses, the pumpkin patch, carving the pumpkin and other Halloween activities. They loved wearing their costumes and looked so cute in them. The kids were bummed when I told them that Halloween was all over. The magic of the holidays comes back in full force when you have little children.

Ward Trunk or Treat

2009-10-31T09:28:00.008-05:00

Our ward trunk-or-treat was on the 28th of October. It was on a Wednesday which meant that Brandon would be late to the party since he has clinic on Wednesdays. Also, the party started ten minutes after Hyrum's swimming lessons were over for the day. We did a quick change in the car before we left swimming lessons and got everyone in their costumes. Hyrum was a football player(He would tell you he was on the Cougars), Ben was Spiderman and Emmy was a sweet princess.

All the kids were excited about their costume. Emmy was especially excited to be a princess. She loved wearing her shoes, her pretty dress, the crown and wearing make-up. She was in heaven. You can't really tell from the pictures, but I put curlers in her hair and curled her hair with a curling iron to make her hair really curly. She looked so cute!

Ben's costume came with a mask and gloves, but he did not want to wear them. I was okay with that and thought he looked so cute in his Spiderman costume.

Hyrum loved being a football player. He loves to wear his costume. By the way, this is the same costume my brother, Sean, wore for multiple Halloweens.

Can you tell in the picture below that Hyrum was ready to go in the gym, and Emmy and Ben look a little nervous about everything?There were tons of people at the ward party. As soon as we walked in the room Hyrum was off finding his friends and fun things to do. The first booth Hyrum went to was the dart booth. You were supposed to throw the dart at a balloon and make it pop. After a few tries, the people running the booth had Hyrum take the dart up to the balloon and pop it.

After the dart booth, Hyrum went to the fishing booth and spent a good amount of time there (He has been wanting my dad to take him fishing on the brown boat for awhile now).Also at the party, Hyrum got his face painted and thought it was pretty cool.
The first booth Ben and Emmy went to was also the dart one. Ben was willing to let the boys help him. Emmy on the other hand wanted me to help her.While Hyrum was at the fisihing booth, I took the Ben and Emmy to do the cake walk. Ben did it for a little bit, but soon lost interest. I think he was to busy taking in the all the sights and sounds (which some of them made him nervous) to play. Emmy was quite happy to have a yummy cupcake when her number was called. Even though Ben watched while Emmy did the cake walk, the people running the booth still let him pick out a cupcake. Ben wanted one with chocolate on it.By this time, we met up with Brandon and I had him help the twins with their cupcake while I did the cake walk with Hyrum. Hyrum was excited to pick a cupcake which had a spooky ghost on top when his number was called.

After the kids finished their cupcakes it was time for the costume parade around the gym.When the parade was over it was time for the trunk-or-treat. Brandon took Hyrum outside and got the car set up to pass out candy to the kids.

After everyone left the gym, Ben wanted to go and do the the fishing booth before we went outside. I think that once things calmed down a little bit with everyone gone and tall the spooky costumes he was ready to play the games. Emmy was also happy to go fishing with him.

It took much convincing for to get Ben to go outside and do the trunk-or-treat. Once he realized that he was going to get candy he was okay with leaving the gym.

Hyrum ran with all the other kids from car to car. Ben and Emmy loved going to each car saying trick-or-treat. They said it so cute. After they received their candy they would say thank you. Ben, Emmy and I finally caught up with Hyrum towards the end of the trunk-or-treat. The kids loved getting all the candy and playing with their friends. Below is a picture of Ben with two of his friends. All three were Spiderman for Halloween.
The picture below is of the kids with some of their friends in the ward.At the end of the trunk-or-treat, Ben wanted to go inside the church and participate in some more activities in the gym. I tried to tell him that everything was all over and it was time to go home. He wasn't convinced until I took him inside and showed him that people were cleaning up and putting things away.

We had a great time that night!

Carving a Pumpkin

2009-10-29T21:11:00.008-05:00

DISCLAIMER-The light in our kitchen is awful for taking pictures!

This past Monday, for Family Home Evening, we carved our big pumpkin(each child has two pumpkins a medium size pumpkin and a little baby one that they received from grandma and papa from the pumpkin patch).

While the kids were finishing their dinner, Brandon went to work on carving the top of the pumpkin and making the inside of the pumpkin loose so the kids would be able to clean it out.
The kids each loved having a turn to pull out the pumpkin goop and seeds. All Clean!
After the insides were scooped out, Brandon found some pumpkin faces on the internet. Brandon picked some favorite faces and drew them on paper so the kids could pick their favorite one to be our pumpkin face. Hyrum told us this year that he wanted a pumpkin with a scary face with teeth.When the face was chosen, Brandon went to work on drawing the face on the pumpkin and cutting the face out.

The kids watched Brandon work on the pumpkin for awhile, but soon lost interest. While Brandon was carving the pumpkin, I read to the kids some of our Halloween books.

I think Brandon did a great job carving the pumpkin. I don't think the pumpkin has a scary face, but the kids were still pleased with it. Emmy was stroking and hugging the pumpkin for most of the night. She loved the pumpkin.

The kids were fascinated when we put a candle in the pumpkin and turned off the lights. The kids were also excited when it was time to take the pumpkin outside and look at our spooky jack-o-lantern in the dark. The kids had a great time helping Brandon carve the jack-o-lantern. By the way, they do refer to the pumpkin once it has been carved, as a jack-o-lantern, even Ben and Emmy. They say the name so cute.

It was a great night.

Pumpkin Patch 2009

2009-10-28T12:58:00.012-05:00

When Hyrum heard we were planning to visit a pumpkin patch while my parents were here, he knew the exact one he wanted to go to. Being the creature of habit that he is, he wanted to go to the same pumpkin patch we went to last year.

I can see why he wanted to go to the same pumpkin patch again. The kids had a great time at the patch last year.

Almost every day during my parents' visit to Memphis it rained. The day we went to the pumpkin patch(October 16, 2009) was no different. When we first got to the pumpkin patch, the weather was just cold and had not started to rain yet.
It didn't take Hyrum long to notice that there were not any animals out this year to look at, which was too bad because the kids really enjoyed looking at them last year.

The kids had a great time chucking and grinding corn. Papa and Grandma were there to help get the grinder going in the right direction to work.Emmy loved playing in the pool of kernels. Emmy found a pink shovel which she enjoyed playing with. Hyrum enjoyed scooping the kernels out of the tub and putting them in a wagon to pull around the yard. Ben was just happy to be doing whatever.The boys had a great time riding the teeter totter.Hyrum loved playing on the tire horse.
Hyrum thought he was pretty hot stuff to climb on the big yellow tire.The kids each loved picking out their own pumpkin to take home. There were many pumpkins to pick from. I was hoping to get a fun shot of my parents with all the kids(like last year), but Emmy had things to do and didn't want to stop for a picture.
The kids were able to play on the swingset for a little bit before it started to rain. Emmy loved it when Papa pushed her in the swing. These pictures are blurry since it was raining, they were moving. However, I love how the pictures show the excitement on their faces. You can tell that both Emmy and Papa are having a great time together besides the fact that it is raining and cold.
Even though it was raining, Ben still wanted a turn to have Papa push him in the swing. The good Papa that he is, my dad, gave Ben a few pushes in the swing before we left. Once again smiling and enjoying the kids even though it was so cold.
The kids had such a great time at the pumpkin patch. We only could get them to leave when it started to rain even though they were freezing.

After nap time that day(Friday), we went to the Children's Museum. The kids love going there. I was only able to get a couple of pictures before my batteries were dead in my camera. One of the places we went was the dentist area of the museum. Of course, Ben and Emmy had to do the teeth puzzle.We had such a great time with my parents. The kids loved doing so many fun things with them and were so happy that they came to visit. Of course, even though I didn't get any pictures of the event, but my parents read to them, A LOT. My dad also made them pancakes almost every day. The kids loved having snuggle buddies during nap time. The kids were in heaven! My kids are so lucky to have such great grandparents (on both sides).

Grandma the Birthday Girl!

2009-10-25T21:46:00.009-05:00

For the past three years, my mom has requested for her birthday a plane ticket to Memphis. Since her birthday was earlier this month, we had the wonderful opportunity for her to come and visit us with papa.

The kids were extremely excited when it was grandma's birthday. They loved singing Happy Birthday to her!

For her birthday, she wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheese. Before we went, the kids gave grandma the birthday present which they help make. We gave her a bag with the kids' hand prints on it that read, "We Love Grandma!" Inside the bag we put a magazine for the ride home, some candy corn and a propel drink.Like usual, the kids had a great time at Chuck E. Cheese!

The picture below is of the boys in the monster truck. They, especially Ben, got nervous when the truck started to move.
Emmy loved riding in the princess carriage again!Ben found a little kid bowling game that he just loved! He was so enthralled with the game and played it a couple times. My favorite was when he would hit a pin(that is right, even just one), he would raise his little hands in the air and yell "Woohoo!" So cute!Hyrum was itching to play air hockey with Papa.Of course Hyrum would pick a game to play that he is a race car driver. My mom said that she wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheese for the kids, but I really think it was because she really wanted to go. She loves/d to the play the game Deal or No Deal. She would get really into the game and was very focused.She would squeal with delight when she did really well and show disappointment when not doing as well as she would have liked.After Chuck E. Cheese, we came back home and had cake and ice cream. It was such a fun night; the kids were in heaven!

I am so grateful for my sweet mom. I love how she gets so excited for her birthday. I don't think I have met anyone else who gets this excited (okay, maybe Emily R.). I am so grateful for the love that she shows my kids as well as myself. She really takes the time to be an awesome grandma and considers her relationship with them a high priority. The kids love the way she will snuggle in the bed and read books or sing songs to them. I am grateful for her testimony of the gospel and her dedication to the Church. I love the way she takes delight in the little things in life. She is amazing at serving and caring for others.

I love you mom!

They Are Three

2009-10-23T14:52:00.009-05:00

Earlier this week my sweet Ben and Emmy turned three. I can't believe the time has gone by so fast! It seems like just the other day they were infants and now they are preschoolers.
Emily has quite the spunky personality and is always on the go. She loves to read books and do puzzles. She loves going to the little playschool that I do with some friends in the ward. She knows a couple of her letters and can count to 10 correctly (for awhile now) and is working on counting to 20. She knows her colors (has for awhile).Her favorite color is pink!She also is in heaven anytime I put make-up on her; particularly lip stick or paint her toes. Emmy loves lotion too. Emmy loves to walk around in my shoes or her high heel shoes. I think she is just discovering the possibilities with dress-ups after exploring her Halloween costume for this year.If her hair is a little crazy, she tells me that it is a mess. She likes to have me do her hair and put a bow in it. Most of the time she sits pretty still, unless there are things on the bathroom counter that she thinks she needs to use. She has always been really good about keeping bows in her hair.She loves helping me pick her clothes and shoes out for the next day as well as a bow and a bracelet to match her outfit. A pair of shoes she is particularly fond of are red sparkly Sunday shoes that have a little heel (think Dorothy). She also loves her flip flops. She is a big Dora fan although I am not sure how that really happened since we don't have cable for her to watch the show.
Emmy loves babies and is quite the helper with them. She loves to hold the babies(with my help) and give them kisses. She adores her friend Lexi and always gives her a big hug when she sees her.Emmy loves her extended family. She has her Papa Van wrapped around her little finger. I think Emmy and her Aunt Millie are kindred spirits in someways. One of them being they both enjoy a good pair of shoes.

Emmy loves to sing. She loves when we sing together before bed. Her favorite song is Wheels on the Bus.

Anytime it is prayer time she raises her little arm up to request to be the person to give the prayer. She loves to pray!

Emmy loves her boys and most of the time wants to do whatever they are doing. Like any sister, she knows exactly what buttons to push to stir the bubbles and bug them. However, she does love them very much.

When you first meet her she is shy and it takes her a little while to warm up. She knows how to play hard to get and coy even though she is only three!

Brandon and I love our sweet Emmy so much and are so pleased to have her in our little family.

Mr. Ben is such a character and has a wonderful zest for life. He definetly has no fear and tries his hardest to do everything his brother does. This includes jumping from our high counter in the kitchen to the floor pretending they were swimming. Oh, how he loves his brother and tries to be exactly like him (even repeating Hyrum's words like a little parrot).Ben loves sports! He has been amazing this soccer season and has been in heaven any time he plays. Ben and Hyrum love to practice kicking any kind of ball in the house and outside. Ben also enjoys tossing a football around with Hyrum, Brandon, Papa or anyone who cares to play. Ben received a basketball and hoops (the ones you put on the wall) from a friend for his birthday and has been itching for Brandon to set it up so he and Hyrum can play.Ben is so funny. He loves to be silly, play jokes and has quite the sense of humor. A game that he and I play right now is that I pretend to eat him and he just thinks it is so silly.
Ben loves cars and trains. He enjoys watching the movie CARS and pretending that he is Chick Hicks or McQueen and race. When it is time for bed, he loves it when I do the cars song which is when we pretend we are driving cars and are racing.Ben hates to have his clothes changed and always has. However, if he is changing into a shirt with a car, train, Spiderman the changing of clothes goes a lot smoother.He loves Spiderman for whatever reason. He hasn't seen a movie with Spiderman in it. We don't really have any Spiderman toys. Probably because Hyrum thinks Spiderman is cool.Ben is so smart and is a great problem solver. He loves to play with toys and games that are a little mind stretching for someone his age. He knows half of his abc's. Can count to 10 correctly(for awhile now) and is trying his hardest to get counting to 20 down. He knows his colors (for awhile now). His favorite color is probably yellow. Ben also loves doing puzzles and reading books.I heard a woman here in Memphis refer to kisses as sugar. I ask Ben all the time if I can have some sugar and he comes running with his cute lips puckered to give me a kiss. He loves to give hugs and kisses to his family.

He loves his extended family to;espescially his Papa Van, his namesake.

He also loves to pray and is sad if it isn't his turn to pray.

Brandon and I love our Ben Boo Van and are so pleased to have him in our family. Our family wouldn't be complete without him.

In the pictures below Emmy wanted so badly to put her arm around Ben for the pictures, but he wanted nothing to do with it. She got quite upset with the fact that he didn't want the loves she was willing to give, but you can see he quickly warmed up.
I love these two! I am so happy that they came together. They have such a unique relationship. They were so happy that it was their birthday. They are my sweethearts!

First Birthday Party-By Herself

2009-10-23T14:45:00.003-05:00

On October 3rd, Emmy was able to go to her very first birthday party by herself. I just had to post about this because of her cute little smile she had on the whole day because she got invited to a party.
She was so excited to go with me and have special one on one time and pick out a fun present for her little friend. She loved picking out a special present that she thought her friend might like. She kept changing her mind, but finally after I gave her two different options for a gift she picked one.

She was smiling the whole time on the way to the party to drop her off. She was so pleased to have something to do that was just for her. The mom at the party said that you could just tell that Emily was so happy just to be at the party. I love our little Emmy and her sweet little smile.

Go Flyers!

2009-10-20T21:52:00.007-05:00

On October 3rd, the boys had their first soccer game of the season. They were both extremely excited for their game. Ben has been so excited to be on his big brother's team. Hyrum is also very pleased to have Ben on his team. The boys are the numbers 2 and 10 this year. The number 10 is the same number that my brother, Uncle Sean, is on the Fighting Penguins. The number 2 is the number that my sister is on the Utah Valley University soccer team.Brandon also had a chance to coach the team for the game since the head coach of the team (Nick) had to work. The pictures below are of the kids warming-up before the big game.Hyrum and Jake

The video below is of the kids on the team showing off their flying skills since they are the Flyers.

One last pep talk and team cheer before the game starts.
Both Ben and Hyrum played really well during their first game. In fact, Ben, the youngest player on the team, scored the very first goal of the season. Of course, since I was so excited, I forgot to take pictures or record the event on camera. To end the game, Hyrum scored the last goal. Once again, I didn't have either camera ready for the event. The pictures below are of the boys waiting on the sidelines for their turn to get back in the game. The first picture is Hyrum and his friend J. Emmy sitting in her "special chair" and cheering on "her boys"!
It wouldn't be a true soccer game if it didn't end in with one more team cheer and snacks and drinks.Soccer has been so much fun this season and I have already seen so much growth in the boys in their soccer skills.

The Snake

2009-10-11T14:59:00.005-05:00

The post below mentions my kids' love for playing family. While I was at the store (Sept.22), I noticed that Ben, in the shopping cart, was holding the dishwasher soap really close and holding a few other items close too. I asked him what he was doing and his response was playing family. Each thing by him in the cart had a part to play in the family. The dish washer soap you see him holding in his hands in the picture below was the snake in the family. I can't remember what everything else was. He told me he was giving the people in his family a hug right when I asked him what he was doing. It was funny to hear him talk and ask questions to "his family" as I finished my shopping. He talked to his family so lovingly. He wanted to hold the soap in the car on the way home and continued to talk to it. It was too funny and a good laugh for me. I can not say that he does not have an imagination!

Playing Family

2009-10-11T14:23:00.004-05:00

My kids love playing family (House) together. They used to play family together every day, now not so often. They have played family for a few months now. The pictures in this post were taken in May, five months ago. If I remember correctly they have been playing family before May.

Everyone is assigned a part in the family. Most of the time Emmy is the mommy, Hyrum is the daddy Ben is a baby. Every once in awhile we get a random grandpa, dog, etc.

Emmy usually has a doll and her blanket(she calls it baby) that she is pushing around in the stroller, she has her purse and usually some accessories like her phone, sunglasses, necklaces etc. Of course she wears her play high heel shoes and sometimes she wears my shoes. Ben acts like a baby. When they first started to play I would wonder what was happening because I would hear been crying/whining the whole time. I soon came to realize that he was just playing his part in the family. He does a very great job at being the baby.

Hyrum also does a really good job being the daddy and takes great care of his family.

This particular time they played family they made me laugh since all of them wanted to wear a pair of shoes. The boys wanted to wear Brandon's shoes and Emmy wanted to wear my shoes. I love the way they have been playing so well together. Don't get me wrong, they still fight, but they love being and doing things together. It is fun to hear them play family and listen to the way they talk to each other. It is pretty funny and pretty humbling to hear their conversations as they play. I am so grateful that they love each other.

Star of the Week

2009-10-06T16:08:00.006-05:00

Before Hyrum's school started, I was sent in an email various papers of important information from his teacher. One of the papers listed each child's name in the class and next to the name were the dates that the child would be the star of the week for the class. For the first day during the special week, the spolighted child was supposed to bring a poster to class that shared information about them. With excitement, I wrote down Hyrum's special week on my calendar and called my crafty sister Millie and my mom to help me get some fun things together for the poster. The package of fun things to put on the poster arrived quickly and I ordered pictures on -line for the poster.

On one of the days I dropped Hyrum off to school I noticed the little boy who was the week before Hyrum in the rotation for being the star, bring his poster to school. I commented on the cute poster. The mom and I continued to talk and I realized that it was Hyrum's week to be the star. The other boy was sick during his special week and was going to share the week with Hyrum.

I was so shocked and embarrassed. I couldn't believe that I forgot that it was Hyrum's special week; especially when I have been so looking forward to the week. I didn't tell him that we missed a day in his special week. That afternoon we went to work on his poster. Hyrum helped me pick what pictures he wanted for the poster. The pictures I ordered came during naptime in the mail that day. After I finished feeding the missionaries that night, I went to work on putting the poster together. It was a lot of work! I remembered many wonderful memories about my Handsome Hyrum as I put the poster together.

I was quite pleased with the results and Hyrum seemed pretty happy too.For the second day of being the star of the week, Hyrum was supposed to bring a favorite toy. He chose his toy car, the Sherrif from CARS. Don't ask me why he chose to bring that car, I have no idea. I tried to talk him in to bringing McQueen, or his special blanket, but he wouldn't budge. However, when we got to Ms. Tami's, he said that he wanted to switch what toy he wanted to bring, but it was a little too late for that.

The third and final day of being the star, Hyrum got to bring a treat to share. He chose Chips Ahoy chocolate chip cookies with candy blast. He wanted to bring cupcakes, but I talked him in to bringing cupcakes for his birthday.

Hyrum loved being the star of the week.

Papa Van

2009-09-29T14:43:00.002-05:00

Even though it is a little late, I thought that I would share this video that I filmed of the kids. In the video they are talking about their beloved Papa Van who recently had a birthday.

I am so lucky to have such a great dad. I love the fact that he takes the time to truly love my kids. He is never to busy to talk to them or myself. Some of those talks with my dad have really helped be a better person. I love my dad so much.

Soccer Time

2009-09-24T15:18:00.006-05:00

The fall soccer season has officially begun. The boys had their first practice two days ago on Tuesday. This year Ben just barely made the cut off to play. He has been so excited to play soccer this year with Hyrum. Hyrum is also really excited for Ben to be on his team with him. They were so excited to go to practice. Ben has been practicing the team cheer, "Go Flyers" whenever he hears someone talking about soccer. Their team is called The Flyers since they run so fast. Ben has also been practicing kicking his soccer ball around the house.

At practice both boys did really well. They did a great job following directions from Coach Nick (who is a fabulous coach)Hyrum scored a two goals in the scrimmage. The picture below is of Hyrum scoring a goal.
He was so proud of himself.

Ben also did really well and almost scored a goal. I was so proud of Ben, being one of the smallest on the team, he fell down a couple times, but he picked himself right up and went to get back in the game.

What did the princess do during the practice?She got to bring her backpack with toys inside and a little chair for her to sit in ( I got the chair for $2 at a yard sale). She was quite content to watch her boys as she calls them and have some treats. I think we will let her play next season. I didn't want to sign her up because I was worried that she would get pushed around a little bit and have a hard time.

The boys had a great time at practice and were in heaven. Our first game is this Saturday. Go Flyers!

New Favorite Thing

2009-09-23T16:51:00.005-05:00

A new favorite thing for Ben and Emmy right now are puzzles. They have liked puzzles in the past, but I think puzzles might have turned into an obsession. They will do puzzles for a good twenty minutes or so. They are getting quite good at putting the puzzles pieces together. It is so cute to see the concentration on their face as they are trying to figure out where everything goes. Sometimes they ask for help, but they do a lot of them now on their own. I think they love the feeling of accomplishment when they can finish a puzzle. They usually yell at "I did it!" with great excitement when they finished the puzzle they have been working on. They also love to do puzzles at nursery and when they go to the gym play area.

Sometimes they do work together to put a puzzle together. However, they do get bugged when one is trying to put a piece in a spot where the other one does not think it belongs.

I love the fact that they enjoy and love puzzles. I think puzzles are an excellent activity.

Book Train

2009-09-21T15:06:00.005-05:00

These pictures for this post were taken back in August. Ben and Emily have figured out something else that is fun to do with books...make a train. They loved lining the books up right next to each other. They had to put every book just so. They loved to walk along their train track. However, I drew the line when they started to walk on the books. It was so sweet to see them work together to accomplish a goal. For the most part, they do have a great time together and love each other so much. In fact, right now they are snuggled up in the recliner watching a show together.

Camping in the Backyard

2009-09-20T17:23:00.010-05:00

During the end of August, Brandon finally got a break from school for a week. We planned on going on a little vacation with the kids, but due to our van having some problems, all of our money that we had saved went towards fixing the van.

As a result, we decided to improvise and have a little camping trip in the backyard. The kids were so excited! We took all the kids to the store to help us buy the hot dogs, chips, pop, marshmallows, etc. and everything else that we might need to help make the camping experience a success. Hyrum was so cute, he remembered all the stuff that he used to make smores when he stayed in Lake Powell with my parents for that extra day and was telling me everything we needed. He was worried that we wouldn't have any fire to cook the smores, but I told him that we would be okay.

Hyrum was in heaven helping Brandon set up the tent. He couldn't get enough of being right beside his dad and helping where ever he could. Ben and Emily helped for a little while, but then decided that the castle toy in the yard was calling their names and headed over there to play for a little while.
Once the tent was set-up, the kids were thrilled to bring their sleeping bags in the tent and get them all ready for the night.After they got their beds ready for the night, the kids decided that they should go and check to see if there were any bears in our backyard. It was so cute! Hyrum took the flashlight and would march off with Ben and Emmy following behind. I am not exactly how sure how good of an idea that was because from then on Ben was worried that every little unfamiliar noise was a bear.
While the kids were on a bear hunt, my adorable Brandon was cooking a very delicious meal consisting of hot dogs and brats. The kids were in heaven with the meal. They loved the hot dogs, chips and having their own little can of pop.
After we were finished eating, Hyrum said that one of the things he wanted to do was play "Go Fish" in the tent. It was lots of fun. Ben was on mommy's team and Emmy was on daddy's team and Hyrum did great by himself.
Of course, we couldn't let the night end without having a yummy smore treat. We made delicious smores using the microwave, not quite the same as cooking them over the fire, but still quite tasty.After our smores, all of us headed out to the tent and soon realized that our yard has many little bumps in it. Although I didn't sleep very well that night, it was still a great time and a memory that I will remember.

Playing in the Rain

2009-09-18T18:50:00.006-05:00

It has been raining every day this week since Monday. I went into the other room for a minute and came back to find them out side splashing in the puddles that build up in our back yard after a small amount of rain fall occurs; so you can imagine what a week of "Southern" rain might create. I decided to let them play for awhile. The kids have been cooped up in the house due to having croup again and because of the rain. They were in absolute heaven splashing in the puddles and running in the mud. The pictures are blurry because they didn't want to stop being silly in the rain. Brandon was only able to get a couple of good shots. Besides, playing in the mud and rain is a part of growing up, right?

First Day of Playschool

2009-09-16T16:45:00.004-05:00

Yesterday, Ben and Emmy had their first day of Playschool! They were so excited to go! Every day I drop Hyrum off to school they are so sad because they want to go too. They were thrilled when they learned it was finally their turn to go to school.
I guess Emmy was trying to get used to wearing the backpack on her shoulders.
I am doing the playschool with a couple of ladies from my ward. Each week we rotate who teaches. The kids have playschool once a week.

Since it was their first day, we had to take pictures out in front of the house. Don't they looks so cute and grown-up? Ben is sporting Hyrum's old Elmo backpack. He loves it! Emmy has a wonderful pink princess backpack that she adores!They were so cute with their backpacks and getting ready to go to school.

Of course, Hyrum had to get in on the action and have his picture taken too!They loved their first day! How could they not, the first class was on cooking and baking and they made yummy cookies. It was a great way to start the new playschool year!

Prostate Cancer 5K

2009-09-16T15:44:00.003-05:00

This last Saturday I did another 5K with a couple of girls from my ward. This 5K was in support of Prostate Cancer research. I was a little nervous for this 5K since I have been so busy with other things lately. I really didn't prepare for the race as well as I would have liked. However, the goal I set was to finish the race in under 30 minutes. If I finished the race under 30 minutes, my mom would buy me a sweater that I want from Target. Nothing like a little motivation!

The race was an easy course with only a few hills that were smaller than the last race I ran. It was actually the same route I did my first 5K on. However, this race didn't finish with a HUGE hill at the end like my first 5K did.

While I was running the race I kept feeling discouraged because I felt like I was going so slow, that the race would end up being a waste of money,etc. Many negative thoughts were flowing through my mind. However, when I got close enough to see the clock I soon came to realize that I wasn't going slow at all, but in fact was going faster than I have in the past. I came in with a time of 30:54. A personal best! I didn't meet my goal, but I did about 4 minutes better than my last race and about 30 seconds better than my personal best time before the race.

It was fun to have the husbands come and support everyone. Megan's husband, Jeff, was able to snap a picture of me as I was getting ready to cross the finish line. It is blurry because I am running so fast!

The picture below is of me and my friends who ran the race.Rachelle, Me, Megan

Dad, the girl on the left is the one who I thought went shopping to get her cool workout clothes! Both of the girls did fantastic! Megan even placed third in her age group.

I loved the fact that this race was very family friendly. They had a jump house for the kids to play in, people to paint the kids' faces; the kids were in heaven! They also had a great food! Corky's, a great BBQ restaurant here in Memphis, provided the food for after the race.

I am looking forward to the Breast Cancer race on Halloween and maybe Brandon's school's 5K.

Reflective Reminders

2009-09-14T23:24:00.002-05:00

Ever since Hyrum has learned to write his letters, he loves to practice writing them. He is constantly asking me how to spell things, helps me make shopping lists, etc. A few weeks ago he wrote me a little love note. He told me that his note was supposed to go on the mirror in my bathroom so I could see it every day. I think Brandon helped him a little with the spelling, but still, so cute. I love looking at it every day. My little reflective love note makes me smile.

Flashback Friday- Feb. 2009

2009-09-11T18:54:00.003-05:00

I found a paper the other day when I was cleaning with a list of things about Ben. I wrote "Feb. Night" on the paper. I will assume that I meant February 2009. If I remember correctly, that would be about the time I wrote the list about Ben.

On the list were

Loves to brush his teeth-He loved playing with toothbrushes then and still doesn't put up too much of a fuss when I try to brush his teeth. He really enjoyed it when I would sing the ABCs as I brushed his teeth.

Loves to pray-Every time it was prayer time he would raise his little arm and say "me!" He wanted to be the one to pray every time a prayer was said. So cute! The other kids soon caught on. Now, each time we pray we have to talk about who's turn it is because all three want to pray. I am trying to enjoy this while it lasts because I am sure when the kids are teenagers, they might not feel the same way.

Loves to be with Hyrum- Ever since we have switched rooms, Ben and Hyrum have gotten along so much better. Ben loved to do (and still does) anything that Hyrum did. He wanted/wants to be right by his side. They love to play cars, soccer, be silly and wrestle. The list could go on and on.

Loves to read Scriptures- Back in February, we would read scriptures and he would pick one word out of each sentence and get a very serious look on his face and repeat the word back to me. It was so cute.

I love Mr. Ben's big brown eyes with the long lashes. Picture taken by Hyrum Feb. 2009 He is such an adorable sweet little boy who I love so much. I can't believe that he will soon be three!

By the way, something he has loved for the longest time(probably since he was able to say a few words) is talking to his papa on the phone. He loves papa Van! Picture taken Feb. 2009

More Swimming Lessons

2009-09-10T23:07:00.003-05:00

We decided that since Hyrum had such a great time doing swimming lessons during the summer, that we would have him do swimming lessons in the fall. One of his friends in the ward, Jake, his mom asked if Hyrum wanted to do swimming lessons with Jake. Brandon and I both thought it would be a great idea. Brandon especially loves the idea of Hyrum taking more swimming lessons since that was Brandon's sport of choice in high school. Yesterday was his first day and he loved it! Hyrum will go twice every week for a month. The place that he is taking swimming lessons from seem like they have a great program. During the lesson it was only him and another student with the teacher. The teacher kept the class moving and held the kids' attention with new activities and fun games. Hyrum was in heaven!

The only problem is that since it takes a little while to get to the pool, I stay for the lesson with Ben and Emmy and watch. During the lesson, Ben tried more then once to sneak into the pool with Hyrum with a sly grin on his face.

I am very excited for Hyrum to take more swimming lessons and can't wait to see how much he will improve his skills.

First day of Preschool!

2009-09-08T14:50:00.007-05:00

Today was Hyrum's first day of preschool for the new school year. He has been eagerly anticipating this day and has asked me multiple times over the summer if it was time for school to start yet. Last night was the open house for his preschool. Hyrum was very excited to go and see Miss Tami's new house and his new school room. This morning he told me that he thought school would be great because he had such a wonderful time with all of his friends at the open house.

Last night after family scriptures and prayer while he was giving Emmy a hug and kiss goodnight he told her that he would miss her very much while he was at school. It was so cute!

Hyrum was so excited to go to school this morning. He helped me pick out his outfit for the day the night before and we had it all ready to go in the morning. Hyrum looked so cute this morning. He is still using his broken, but well loved McQueen backpack.Ben and Emmy thought they were going to school this morning. They wanted their picture taken too.They were so disappointed to find out that they wouldn't be going quite yet to Ms. Tami's ( I am doing a playschool with them with some ladies in my ward); especially Ben.

Hyrum, of course had to climb the tree since he was outside.Ms. Tami met him as he came to school. Hyrum made a little note for Ms. Tami. Hyrum told grandma the other day that Ms. Tami is beautiful and that he loves her.Hyrum was excited to go right on in and start playing with his toys with his friends. Hyrum had a great day and loved being at school. Hyrum is such a smart boy with so much curiousity about the world and how things work. He is a very intuned to others and how they feel. He is doing such a great job with his reading. I can't wait to see all the many things he will do and accomplish in his life and with the talents he has been given by a loving Heavenly Father. I did not cry this year when he started back to school. I think it is because we have already taken this preschool step. I am sure next year the water works will flow. I love my Handsome Hyrum so much.

Conquered Territory

2009-08-30T22:05:00.006-05:00

This past month Emmy has been busy! I am sure she had some help in this month's adventures, but she did a lot of the damage, mostly by herself. One week in August, we had something disastrous happen every day. You know, the things that take forever to clean up or leave a nice little stain behind.

First off, Emmy loves to get her nails done and is constantly asking me to paint them. She knows that we put a paper towel under our hand so we don't get any nail polish on the floor. However, one time she decided that she wanted to paint her nails "all by herself" ( a favorite phrase lately) and didn't put anything underneath. She got nail polish all over the carpet. Needless to say the nail polish has been moved to a higher location. Don't worry, she has been finding new things to get into. I would say almost every day, at least, once, she is in my make-up trying to find lipstick to put on. If she can't find any, she will use the chapstick.

Shortly after the nail polish incident I found her and Ben getting into my lotion. The got the lotion all over the carpet, on their bodies and in their hair. At least they were moisturized for the day, right? The picture below is her shortly after the lotion incident. Can you see how much lotion was in her hair?I think the next day (or the day after that), Ben and Emmy found the sunscreen, bug spray and I am not sure what else and went to town. I guess they were worried about getting burned and receiving bug bites that day. I sent them out to play why I cleaned up their mess. I soon remembered that it poured the night before and the kiddie pool was filled with water. They, of course, climbed in and got completely drenched. I decided it was time for bath. I cleaned up the last little bit of their mess from earlier and drained the pool only to hear the words, "Emmy pooped in the tub!" So I quickly scooped out Ben and Emmy and had them finish their bath in the other tub. That was a long day and all of those incidents happened from about 3:30 on after nap time.

Also, a recent event that has happened, thanks to the princess, is the fact that she put dish soap in the dish washer. For those of you who haven't had that lucky experience, let me say these two words...bubbles...everywhere. There were more bubbles then what the picture shows. The picture was taken after I already started to clean up.I started the dishwasher and then finished getting ready for bed one night. I soon realized that I forgot to take my medicine and found bubbles everywhere in the kitchen. The bubbles covered almost the whole kitchen floor and were an inch thick. It was such a pain in the neck to clean up. I guess Hyrum thought the bubbles were fun, so he put dish soap in the dishwasher a day or two later and we got to experience the bubbles again!

I know she got into more things, but those are what I can think of right now. I am sure she got in the trash. She still loves to find treasures in the waste basket.

Funny Hyrum

2009-08-30T21:25:00.002-05:00

Hyrum has been saying the funniest things lately.

Today on the way to church he noticed that there were some cars parked in the Walmart parking lot. Hyrum then went on to say (somewhere along the lines), "People are over there shopping. They must have thought it was Sunday (I think he meant Monday, which I am surprised he messed up because thanks to Ms. Tami, he has known his days of the week for almost a year now). "They'll go to church when they are done."

Tonight as he was going to bed he said, "Mom, I am going to sleep like a 7." Meaning that his body was in the shape of a seven.

Also, tonight as we were reading scriptures (we read the Children Readers). At the begining of the New Testament reader, it gives a nice summary about the Plan of Happiness. One of the pictures shows the Savior exiting the tomb. When we finished reading the section Hyrum said, "Why is he sneaking out?" Brandon then told Hyrum that he wasn't sneaking out that he was resurrected (which Hyrum knows what ressurection means). Hyrum then went on to say, "No, he is sneaking out." Brandon decided that it was pointless to continue the conversation with him.

I love hearing how is mind works. He loves to ask questions! Every day he asks me so many. For example, we had lots of vegtables and fruits for dinner one night and Hyrum wanted to know where the vegetables and fruits came from. He wanted to know if the fruits and vegtables came from a vine, a tree or in the ground etc. I told him that we should call his Papa since he knows lots about plants. He always asks more then "what is that?" He loves to ask the who, where and why too.

One thing that Hyrum has inherited from his father is his strong sense of smell. He can smell anything anywhere and most of the time asking me what a certain smell is before I can even smell it.

I love how curious he is and hope that I can encourage his curiousity (to an extent) to explore the world around him.

Another 5K

2009-08-30T14:53:00.004-05:00

I did another 5K with two friends from my ward on August 1st.

LtoR Heidi, Me, Rachelle

Holy cow that race was hard. There were some HUGE hills! It was probably the hardest race I have done so far. I came in 7th in my age group out of 15 and 99th overall. My time was 34:12. A couple minutes slower than the 5K I did in Utah and a little faster than the one I did in May. I don't think it helped my time that I started closer to the back of the pack of racers.

Here is a link to the pictures that were taken at the race. I am in pictures 47-50 on the right side wearing a pink shirt. I am number 40. Those pictures were taken at the very beginning of the race. I am also in pictures 301-303; those pictures are of me at the end of the race right before I crossed the finish line. If you look closely and if you look at the pictures after mine you will see my cute cheering section that cheered me on and made me a fun sign ( I think they ended up being in more pictures than myself). I love how they cheer, "Go, Mommy" not only when I do these 5Ks but when they see me to get dressed to go and work out.

I am hoping to do another 5K on September 12th. It will actually be on the same track that I did my first 5K on. Ideally, I would like to come in under 30 minutes, but we will see. I have kept running, but not as often as I would like.

I really like doing these 5Ks because it gives me something to look towards and a goal as I am working out.

Potty Training Update

2009-08-30T14:21:00.007-05:00

We have officially been trying to potty train Ben and Emily for a little over a week. So far, they have been doing pretty good. To be honest, sometimes it seems like things aren't going quite so well, but then I remember that we are potty training two kids at once instead of one. Also, most of the accidents have been when I have forgotten to take them to go potty or during the nighttime. We are some of those insane people who do both night and day potty training at once.

The first day we set out underwear, Ben went and put his underwear back and brought me a diaper instead. We even went to the store to pick out special "undies" and he still wanted to wear a diaper. I knew that potty training would be a little harder for him. He has hated (from the beginning) getting his diaper changed. It took a little pep talk from daddy about going in the toilet and wearing big boy underwear to help Ben's mindset. Also, the fact that Emmy got a "nummy" and he didn't was enough motivation to try. He is doing pretty good and has even gone almost a full forty-eight hours without an accident.

Emmy has also done a great job going potty. Ben will sit forever before he goes while Emmy does her business quick and is on to finding other things to get into in our house. She loves being like the big girls. She has told me time and time again that she is like Lexi (who she loves)because she is going potty in the toilet and wearing big girl underwear. She loves to wear her Dora and "Missie Mouse" underwear. She does not want to have anything to do with diapers and will break down in tears if someone even mentions putting her in one. She too has also gone a decent stretch of about forty-eight hours without an accident. Below is a picture of her after a long day of not having a nap. Picture taken with Brandon's phone.All in all, I think they are doing pretty good. Hyrum is still their biggest fan and cheers them on each time they go. Brandon figured out that having them out of diapers alone will save us about $1,000 a year (not including wipes)! That fact alone is encouragement to keep going and also because it will be the first time in five years we don't have a child in diapers.

Flashback Friday-May 2009

2009-08-22T00:00:00.006-05:00

These pictures were taken earlier this year in May 2009. The pictures below are of our first ice cream cones of the season. As you might imagine my kids loved them and ate every last bite. Of course, they thought it was silly when their faces were messy after their tasty cold treat. I thought it was the perfect way to start out the summer.

Got Bad Guys?

2009-08-21T12:31:00.004-05:00

Got Bad Guys? Call 1-800-BEN-E-BOO! One day in July, Ben was running around the house with this crown he received from a friend and this toy ax fighting "bad guys". It was so cute! Fighting bad guy was his idea and he played by himself for a while. He was really into fighting the bad guys and made sure that our house was bad guy free.

Biting the Bullet

2009-08-20T23:30:00.002-05:00

I have decided it is time to start potty training Ben and Emmy. Ben and Emily are the same age that Hyrum was (even a little older) when we potty trained him. I think I might be crazy, but I am tired of changing diapers. Plus, Ben is playing soccer this fall and I don't want him to be the only kid out there running around in a diaper.

Hyrum is so excited for Ben and Emmy. It was fun to hear his excitement as he was talking to Ben about everything in regards being a big boy and going potty on the toilet.

Talking about underwear tonight from Hyrum to Ben:
"Don't worry, if all of your underwear are dirty you can wear some of mine." Don't you all wish you had a brother who would share like that? Hearing the tenderness in Hyrum's voice as he said it to Ben was so sweet and funny at the same time.

As we were picking out clothes for tomorrow Emmy had a hard time picking what underwear she wanted to wear tomorrow. I think she changed her mind at least three times. She finally decided she wanted to wear the pink one. Surprised...I think not.

Hyrum wanted to find his Thomas the Train underwear so he could match Ben tomorrow. Too bad Hyrum out grew those underwear about a year ago; otherwise they could have matched.

We start tomorrow. We shall see how it goes.

Last Utah Post

2009-08-17T22:36:00.010-05:00

I know have done tons of posts about our trip to Utah. However, I wanted to make sure I covered all the exciting times that we had on our trip. This is the last Utah post until our next trip to the Beehive state.

Some of the highlights were:

Being completely SPOILED by grandma and papa. Each child got many special treats just for them. They loved the CAR and Princess crackers they received.The kids loved the special donuts run that grandma did for them.
Ben fell in love with our neighbor's car and was fascinated and wanted to help Jordan work on it.
The kids loved eating dinner at night since so many of their favorite people were at the table. Ben loved sitting on Papa's lap. Emmy and Hyrum just loved being there with everyone.
Hunting (pretend) for ducks on the deck in the morning on the canal with the awesome "Blanding Gun" was always fun.Speaking of the deck, what a fun place to play. The kids had a great time running around out there chasing each other. Another fun thing the kids did was playing with the fun toys at grandma and papa's house. I think it felt like Christmas with all the "new" to them toys. Below is a picture of them making a castle for a princess.The kids loved each having their own place to sit. Thank goodness grandma remembered where she got the chairs from since one of them broke while we were there. Good thing grandma is keeping the chairs safe so they will be ready the next time we come and visit. If you ask Hyrum, he will tell you we were going to Utah in December for Christmas.The kids loved all the many people to read them books. They are still content to sit and be read to for long periods of time. I am grateful for my family for taking the time to read to them.Another thing the kids loved were the many nap buddies they had. They loved it when they had someone to take a nap with them. I think grandma especially likes that special time to cuddle up and snuggle and read a couple of books before having a nice little nap.I loved being able to visit a little bit with some of my close friends from high school. I have seriously missed those girls and the good times we have had. I wished that I would have stayed in better contact with all of them. They truly are amazing people that I miss so much. They have always made me feel good in my skin and I felt like I could be myself around them. Below is a picture with four of us ten girls. From LtoR Megan, Lindsey (Emme), Me (Emily), Jen (Zack).The kids loved looking for bugs in Utah; especially Emmy.One of my favorite parts of the trip was being able to see a whole bunch of family members on my dad's side. We had a couple of family events where we were able to see everyone.Below are pictures with Grandma and Grandpa Great. Growing up, we used to go over to my grandparents' house every Sunday for dessert, games and socializing. Oh how I have missed that being out here in Memphis without them! I know my kids had a great time every time we went. What is there not to like about yummy treats and having a friend to play with?The boys really loved playing with my cousin Calvin. He is about 18 months older than (notice this word Camille) Hyrum.

I took pictures of both Hyrum and Emmy on our trip one Sunday and didn't want Ben to be left out. He fell asleep in the chair shortly before we went to Church. I think all the playing he did really wore him out.
We had such a great time on our trip. I was excited to go home and spend time with family. The only thing that would have made the trip better would have been if Brandon was there. I have really missed my family lately. Hopefully it won't be too long before we are able to go home again.

Last Day in Utah

2009-08-16T17:26:00.005-05:00

The day before the kids and I flew home to Memphis (June 29), we were able to spend some time with Brandon's family. It just so happened that Brandon's brother Craig and his family were coming to Utah for vacation. Also, Brandon's parents and Alizabeth were coming to Utah for a vacation too at the same time. Brandon's sister Lorri lives in Utah, so we were able to see her and her family too. We were especially excited to see Craig and Nancy and their family since the last time we saw them was before the twins were born.

We gathered at a local park where the kids had such a great time playing together. The kids loved playing on the tennis courts (Grandma and Grandpa T. even took the kids out in the blazing heat to play tennis. Ben was in heaven), playing with water guns, and on the playground equipment. Ben and Emmy loved it when Grandma T. took time to push them in swings (they have loved swings from the very beginning and will sit in swings for a long time).

We had a yummy dinner of sandwiches, chips, and other yummy treats from Brandon's sister Lorri's garden.We had such a great time playing, talking and catching up that I didn't get very many pictures.

Below is a picture of all the grandchildren on Brandon's parents side. I think that that is the first time that all the grandchildren have been together since Brandon and I got married.LtoR bottom row: Alizabeth, Hannah, Ben, Josh, Jacob, Hyrum, Emmy, and Natalie
LtoR top row: Carson, Michael, Grandpa T., Grandma T. and Steven

Ben, Hyrum and Josh

We had such a wonderful time visiting with everyone. I just wished Brandon could have been there to spend time with his family. It was a nice way to end our trip to Utah.

The Women In Our Lives

2009-08-12T21:08:00.002-05:00

Brandon here. Not sure if everyone has had a chance to view the video currently on the lds.org website but I thought it was inspiring. This one is for you Natalie. I Love You.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkUwh1YUMtE

Lake Powell '09

2009-08-11T15:19:00.009-05:00

The one thing Hyrum said he wanted to do when he heard we were going to Utah was to go to Lake Powell. He had such a great time last year, that he wanted to go again.

My parents were kind enough to use one of their time shares for their house boat and take us down to the lake. The picture below is of the kids "helping" Papa pack for the trip to Lake Powell. The kids had a great time. I think the water was a little cold, so they didn't want to play in the water that much. They loved riding in Papa's green boat.
Hyrum really loved the bumpy rides on the tube. He even still tells people how he went to Lake Powell and how he loves bumpy rides. He was very eager to go on more tube runs and ride the tube until he fell in the water. After that, he was always worried that he would sink if he fell in the water. We tried to reassure him that his life jacket would save him, but he wasn't buying it.

Emmy was really excited to go on the tube. However, on her very first run a bump took Millie by surprised and both she and Emmy fell off the tube. Emmy called herself silly, but there was no way we could talk her into getting back on that tube.

Ben had a great time on the tube. He loved having a good ride. Both he and Hyrum were able to ride with "Dordan."The picture below is of Emmy waving to "the boys" while they are riding the tube with Jordan. She decided she would rather ride in the boat then on the tube. Ben even got to ride on the tube with his beloved Papa right before we left. However, Ben was so exhausted from playing so hard that he fell asleep during his long awaited Papa ride.Also, on the last day that we were there the kids finally got to ride on the "gets skis" with Papa. Hyrum was worried that they were going to sink (can you tell falling in the water was traumatic) so the ride didn't last that long. Ben had a good time with Papa. Emily fell asleep waiting for her turn so she missed out (I think she would have been really nervous during the ride).During the trip Emmy loved the Sunscreen stick. If ever you were looking for the sunscreen, you should check to see if she has it. I think she loved the fact that the sunscreen looked like lipstick. She was constantly putting the sunscreen on herself and everyone else.The kids loved the Dora and Diego glasses they got. They looked pretty cute wearing them too.The boys loved using the swim noodles to fish for SHARKS!!Sean invited some friends as well as the family we went with invited some friends so the kids had lots of fun following the older kids around. I was shocked when I came in the boat to find that Emmy was letting a boy comb her hair and was sitting on his lap. This is so not her. She is super shy. I guess she thought Jeremy was cute.I was a little bummed. I only got up skiing once and not for very long. It was very frustrating. My sister on the other hand rocked it with her wakeboarding. Camille and I also had another great time riding the tube. Like usual, she had me laughing so hard I could hardly keep my focus on hanging on to the tube. The kids had a designated perch on Papa's boat when it wasn't moving. I didn't get a picture of Emmy, but she would hop on the step too. They looked so cute standing there. The twins and I didn't stay the whole time. They were tired and I was tired, plus there was a kid who got hurt and need to be taken home. Hyrum however got to stay with Papa and Grandma one more day and was in heaven. I seriously think that was the highlight of the trip to Utah for him. He thought he was so cool. He loved hunting for lizards, roasting marshmellows, hanging out with the "big"kids, riding in the boat and being with his favorite people, grandma and papa. He had the time of his life and still talks about how he "really loves doing that" (when talking about going to Lake Powell). The twins were so excited to see everyone when they came home the next day. It was so cute to see how much they missed and loved everyone. We had a great time at Lake Powell. Thanks again mom and dad for such a fun trip.

BubbleShare: Share photos - Easy Photo Sharing

Naptime Today

2009-08-10T14:35:00.005-05:00

I just wanted to make a quick note before I forget about nap time today.

I took a few moments to snuggle by Ben before his nap and he just kept giving me those slobbery kisses that only a two year old can give. He kept telling me that he loved me and kept smooching. He was so excited that I was laying by him. It was too cute.

I gave Hyrum some snuggles before his nap too. You could tell he was in heaven because he got some one on one mommy time. He told me to remember to "bless him" in my prayers so his eye can get better (he has a little bit of an eye infection). It was too cute. I have loved listening to the prayers he says. He is so thoughtful in his word choice and remembering those who might need some extra blessings.

I would have gone in and snuggled Emmy, but she was already asleep. She had a rough night last night. I will just have to give her some hugs and kisses when she wakes up.

I love getting and giving my children hugs and kisses. There is nothing quite like the love of a child.

Croquet in the Garden

2009-08-06T08:52:00.006-05:00

A favorite past time of mine from growing up was playing croquet with my family. Both my immediate and extended family played many croquet games through the years.

When I was home back in June I told my family that one of the things I wanted to do (I think Millie wanted to do this too) was to play a game of croquet. As a result, one night for Family Home Evening we played croquet and had a great time. Before we could play, the lawn needed to be mowed first. The kids loved watching papa mow the lawn. They would each run as close as they could to him and then run back to me pretending to be scared. It was pretty funny. Hyrum loved helping Papa mow the lawn for the last little bit. Each of the kids had to be in on the action and had their Papa help them figure out their swing. For the rest of the game the object was to avoid the kids, their mallets, their croquet balls while still trying to get your own croquet ball where you want it to go. My dad and Millie dominated the games we played. I had a lot of fun playing myself and spent most of the time laughing at how awful I was doing and the silly comments Millie would make. Hyrum also had a great time playing and took his game very seriously. He definitely left his mark on my parents lawn after playing.

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

2009-08-05T08:50:00.007-05:00

On August 1st we went to a Redbirds baseball game. While I was in Utah, Brandon went to the Scout fundraiser for our ward and won some baseball tickets. The seats were great! We were about five rows up from the visiting teams dugout and between home plate and the dugout.
The kids were so excited to go to the game and had been looking forward to going for days. Hyrum would yell "Go Redbirds" and still does. Of course, since Ben has to do everything Hyrum does, Ben repeats the cheer anytime Hyrum cheers for the Redbirds. Ben was excited about eating a hot dog. He walked around the house on the day of the game and the whole time we drove to the game talking about the hot dog he would have.

The kids loved watching baseball in Utah and in Tennessee there was no difference. It was a great close game, with the Redbirds winning at the end. The kids did a good job for the first hour and a half of the game. Towards the end of the game they struggled. Emmy spent a lot of time watching from a distance the mascot. I think she liked watching the mascot be silly, but didn't want it to come too close. The boys loved all the noise, sights and sounds and couldn't get enough and sat there for a long time watching the game. I think Ben has found his true love in life. Plus, I am told that it isn't bad to be a lefty when playing baseball.

The kids loved the "ball park" food. The package of tickets came with some coupons for food at the ball park. Ben got his hot dog and was in heaven. The kids also enjoyed the nachos and cotton candy.
It was such a fun night. I love it when we get to do things like that as a family!

Parades

2009-08-02T18:51:00.003-05:00

While we were in Utah, we attended a couple of local parades. The first parade we attend was Orem City's. This was the first true parade that the kids had been to in a long time. They loved it! They were fascinated by the many different floats, the wonderful goodies and treats that were thrown to them, the fun marching bands, fire engines, dancers and other miscellaneous people in the parade. They hardly moved during the parade except to get the candy and other items thrown to them. Can you tell the fire engines and police cars were going by?Emmy loved seeing all the "princesses" she would do a timid wave to every single one of them.
The next weekend we went to the Strawberry Days parade. Before the parade, my sister, my dad, my brother and I did the 5K. It was so much fun to be able to do the race with them. I improved my time from my last 5K and came in with a time of 31:24. My dad and brother both ran the race really well and my sister kicked our trash. She did the race in the time of 22:48 and got 2nd place in her age group.

After the 5K, we took the kids to the parade. Once again they had a great time and were fascinated by the many different sights and sounds. The only down side of the parade was that it rained a little. The kids loved the candy and there were even otter pops passed out. The picture below is of Ben waving to the very cool race car that was in the parade. Both of the boys thought that the race car was AWESOME! Emmy once again was standing to wave to all the princesses.

I was happy that we were able to go to a couple parades because those are some of my fun memories that I remember from growing up. Plus, what is there not to like about free candy?

I'm So Glad...

2009-08-01T10:28:00.005-05:00

These are videos I filmed in Utah of the kids singing the song I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home. I was going to try and post them on the blog why we were in Utah for Father's Day, but I left the cord for the camera at home. Oh well, better late then never right? At least Brandon will know that he is loved. We missed him a lot while we were in Utah. He is such a great daddy!

Family Home Evening

2009-08-01T10:07:00.003-05:00

While it Utah, we were able to have Family Home Evening with my family. Of course, we had to sing Book of Mormon Stories. It was the only song we sang for Family Home Evening growing up. The kids got really into the actions during the song and it was really cute. Here is Emmy doing the part "far across the sea." The lesson that was done was the famous garbage can lesson we had growing-up. You have a whole bunch of words, some nice and some mean. The words that you want to have in your house that are nice, you push them through the slot on the house. The words that are mean, you put them through the slot on the garbage can because you wouldn't want them in your home. My siblings and I had that lesson many times.

After the lessons we went and saw the horses that are close to my parents house and took them carrots. The kids love to go and see the horses. If you notice in the pictures, Emmy is only in a couple of them. Once the horses were really close, she did not want to be close. The boys enjoyed feeding the horses. We didn't stay too long because it started to rain. We finished off the night with yummy ice cream.

I am grateful for the time my parents took while I was growing up to make sure we had family home evening and scripture study. I am so grateful for their testimonies and for the influence they have had in my life.

Kangaroo Zoo

2009-07-31T15:02:00.005-05:00

While we were in Utah, we went to the Kangaroo Zoo...twice!! We had so much fun that we had to go a second time so grandma could see the kids squeal with delight. Once again, we were lucky that we had Aunt Millie to help us out.
At first, Ben was a little nervous, but after awhile he held nothing back. Emmy was a little animal and loved Kangaroo Zoo! She loved going down the slides backwards.Hyrum was able to play with some friends that Camille was babysitting for the week while we were at Kangaroo Zoo and had a great time. He also enjoyed the baseball game they had set up there.He loved doing the races. The kids would each see how fast they could climb-up the blow-up slide and slide down. Hyrum went pretty fast.Hyrum also enjoyed going to cooking classes and going to the movies with these fun friends. He also thought it was awesome when he was able to go and play over at their house with Millie.
BubbleShare: Share photos - Find great Clip Art Images.

Scoot Coupe

2009-07-30T15:29:00.004-05:00

One of the days we were visiting Utah, our neighbor Jordan brought home the Scoot Coupe during his lunch hour. The boys were in HEAVEN! Hyrum and Ben couldn't get enough rides in before Jordan had to go back to work. I love Hyrum's face in the picture below. You can tell he is loving it! Every time Hyrum and Ben saw Jordan after that day they would ask him if he brought the Scoot Coupe home.Emmy wanted to try riding in the coupe, but only lasted a few feet before she started to cry and wanted to come back to me. She did try riding it again with me in the coupe with her and she did much better. For most of the time she was content just to play in the yard and watch everyone else have their turn.Thanks again Jordan!

Swimming Lessons

2009-07-30T08:07:00.010-05:00

While we were in Utah, the kids were able to participate in swimming lessons. Hyrum did a beginner class and the twins did a mom and tot class. The picture below is on the first day of class. Look how cold they look and the dark clouds in the background.During the time we had swimming lessons, it was too cold to go swimming. Our classes were early(9:15), and most of the days we had swimming lessons it rained. In other words, the water was cold. Too cold for Emmy and Ben's liking.

Hyrum loved his class and couldn't wait to go each day. He was always so excited. Every time I saw him during swimming lessons he always had a such a big smile on his face. He loved going around the lazy river as a train with his class. Hyrum also loved getting in the shower(they have one outside) to warm up after class.

Hyrum loved going down the slide and couldn't get enough of it on the last day of class. The picture below was taken right after going down the slide.The twins on the other hand didn't like their classes so much. To be perfectly honest, the main teacher wasn't that great at focusing on the class, he was focused on flirting with his teaching assistant though. Also, Ben and Emmy were the only two in the class; it was a little awkward.

However, the twins loved it when they got to use their "ice cream scoops" and motor boats to chase ducks. They loved putting their ducks on the slide and racing to go and get them. We would put the ducks on the slide, take a few steps back and then they would take turn saying "On your mark, get set, GO!" They loved singing songs during the swimming lessons; especially Wheels on the Bus. The pictures of the twins below are of them practicing their "motor boat" kicks to the song Motor boat.Doing "motor boat" kicks to get grandma wet.They also liked using the kick boards. Looking back on the pictures that were taken, I noticed that more often then not, they did have smiles on their faces. I think they liked the classes more then I thought. I am grateful for my sister and my brother who helped me do the mom and tot class with the twins.

During the last few minutes of swimming lessons, the twins were able to play in the baby pool. It took them the full two weeks to warm up to that pool. First, it was so cold. Second, Emmy slipped while walking on the first or second day and went under twice in seriously about five seconds. That experience didn't go over very well. However, when we went and played in the pool on a day we didn't have swimming lessons they loved the baby pool. I think the reason why they didn't like the pool earlier had to do with the fact that the water was so much colder during swimming lessons.
They thought it was so cool that on the last day of swimming lessons they also got to make a train and go around the lazy river. They were also excited to go down the slide. They had been eying the slide since day one of swimming lessons. Emmy hated the slide. Ben thought it was fun but a little unsure.Emmy loved wearing her "Missy Mouse" swimsuit. The kids really enjoyed their swimming lessons and hopefully will be able to do swimming lessons again next year.

BubbleShare: Share photos - Easy Photo Sharing

Natalie's Birthday Party

2009-07-28T15:04:00.007-05:00

While in Utah we were able to celebrate cousin Natalie's birthday. The kids were so excited to go to her party. Her mom planned the party date just so we could make it. However, there was an accident and construction on the freeway the day of her birthday and normally a drive that would have taken us 20 minutes (we started the drive 40 minutes before the party) took us 2 1/2 hours to reach our destination. As a result, we missed most of the party games. We did make it in time for cupcakes and other treats. We also made it in time to see Natalie open her presents. We gave her my very first sewing creation with my new machine (a cape) and gum. I honestly think the gum was her favorite present.Also, the kids were able to color a bag to use as they went and hunted animals in the backyard. The kids also got some fun animal hats to match the jungle themed birthday party.Can you tell Ben is saying Roar. Hyrum is making an alligator mouth with his arms.We stayed long after the other guest left to visit and play with Lorri and her kids. We love going to the house with a flock of Birds.BubbleShare: Share photos - Find great Clip Art Images.

Buzz Cuts

2009-07-26T19:20:00.005-05:00

When we first arrived in Utah the boys were in dire need of a hair cut. Their hair was too long and looking shaggy. I decided that since it was summer, it would be fun for them to have a buzz cut. We borrowed the clippers from some neighbors and went to work. The boys were very excited to get their haircut. Hyrum had Jordan cut his hair. Ben wanted his beloved Papa to cut his hair. Even Emmy insisted on being in on the action. She wanted her clothes off and Jordan to pretend to cut her hair. I think the boys ended up looking adorable with their new look.

Playing Outside

2009-07-26T18:34:00.003-05:00

The weather was wonderful while we were in Utah. As a result, we played outside almost every single day, more then once. The kids loved the freedom of being able to play with out dying of heat in a matter of minutes. They also loved the wonderful soft grass (which we don't have in Memphis), all the toys, sidewalk chalk, which they drew everywhere (I am sure my parents are still finding "pictures" all around ). The kids were in heaven!! I didn't take very many pictures of them playing outside, but trust me they played lots and had a great time. To be honest, I was soaking up the sun on the grass reading various books my sister said I "had" to read. The pictures below are of the two boys showing off their muscles.

Go Penguins!

2009-07-21T14:49:00.005-05:00

On June 3rd we flew to Utah to spend time with my family. We were able to spend some time with them for almost a month and had such a great time.

One of the things we did while it Utah was go to my brother's softball games. He plays on a city league team. The kids LOVED going to his games; especially the boys. Ben is a huge "b-ball" fan. They loved taking their balls, mitt and bats to the games. They also enjoyed playing on the bleachers. The picture below include, Hyrum, Ben, Emily, My mom, Millie, Jordan and Sean Every time Sean's team was in the dug out, Ben would go and have a little chat. "No Pictures!"- I think he was bugged I was blocking his view
They loved watching the game and would cheer for Sean when he got up to bat. Sean was the pitcher for his team the Fighting Penguins.One time, when we went to the game, it was really windy.
They were disappointed that after Sean's game ended they couldn't go play on the field since another game was about to begin. They thought it was their turn and got quite upset; especially Ben. However, they still had a great time at the ball park.